After seeking to improve its athletic ability and size, and
hopefully its shooting eye, the key to contending for a title could
be the experience and leadership of five seniors

There is an easy distinction when dissecting Eastern Washington
University's men's basketball roster for the 2009-10 season.

First of all, there are five letter winners back -- all seniors
-- who will be heavily leaned on for leadership and focus on the
floor.

Then there are the newcomers, featuring some of the most
athletic players Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine
has ever recruited.

Experience and athletic ability is the start, giving Eastern
hopes that their size, speed and strength will help make them a
championship contender in the league this season. And if the
shooting comes around, that will be an even bigger bonus.

"We needed to become more athletic, we needed to add size and we
needed shooting ability on the perimeter," said Earlywine, who is
23-37 in his first two seasons at the helm. "We thought if we could
get all three of those it would be a home run. We accomplished two
of those three goals for sure.

"We increased our size and length, and we increased our athletic
ability," he continued. "What I don't know is if we improved our
perimeter shooting enough, but I feel pretty good about the other
two areas."

The Eagles were 12-18 overall last season, and 6-10 in the Big
Sky Conference to finish seventh. For the second-straight season
under Earlywine, Eastern just missed out on a berth to the Big Sky
Conference Tournament as they finished in a sixth-place tie with
Montana State but lost the tiebreaker.

The Eagles failed to qualify for the BSC Tournament for the
third-straight season after a string of nine-straight appearances.

"Last year was disappointing because we thought we were going to
make that jump," said Earlywine, who was 11-19 overall and 6-10 in
the league in his debut season in 2007-08. "To take the step from
being a bad team to being a competitive team is easy compared to
taking the next step of going from being competitive to winning.
That is much tougher. For us to take that step, we need our seniors
to have a good year. If they have good senior seasons, we have a
chance to be right where we all want to be that first week of
March."

The seniors include second team All-Big Sky Conference guard
Benny Valentine and 6-foot-9, 250-pound center
Brandon Moore. The other three seniors are guard
Gary Gibson and forwards Matthew
Brunell and Mark Dunn.

"We have five seniors who have been in our program and
understand our terminology and how we want things done," Earlywine
explained. "We need those seniors to take a step forward in a
leadership role so I don't feel like I'm coaching 14 or 15 guys
every minute of every day. You want your upperclassmen to help
coach the younger players along with you. When those five seniors
are echoing my thoughts, and when they are saying the same things
to the young guys that I'm saying, then we're making real
progress."

Of prime concern was his team's shooting percentage for the
season, which went from 40.6 percent in Earlywine's debut season to
41.8 percent in 2008-09. The team's three-point percentage actually
went down, from 34.0 to 32.4 percent. The Eagles were 11-3 when
they made at least 45 percent of their shots, but were 1-15 when
they made 44 percent or less from the field

"We had the ability to play as well as anybody in the league,"
Earlywine said. "But you have to do it over long periods of the
season -- it has to be a day-after-day-after-day type of thing.
There were nights where we were very good defensively and struggled
on offense, and vice versa. Part of that are just the growing pains
of a new program.

"I would expect to see fewer of those peaks and valleys this
coming season," he explained. "I would like to see us much more
consistent in terms of our production. Our physical effort was
pretty consistent a year ago for the most part, but we had mental
lapses as a group and individually that we need to eliminate."

Consistency Key for Valentine & Moore . . .

Getting more consistent production out of Valentine and Moore
will be of prime importance for the Eagles. They combined for 44
double figure scoring performances, but they also had 14
performances of eight or less.

"They all know that, in particular Brandon and Benny," explained
Earlywine. "There is more responsibility that comes with being one
of the guys who takes the most shots and is perceived to be one of
the team's best players. When you are in that role it increases the
responsibility that is thrust upon you.

"I think both of those players are ready, as well as our other
three seniors. They are ready to take that challenge on and were
terrific this past summer. Our players have worked hard in the
weight room and increased their strength. I think we'll look like a
Division I basketball team physically for the first time in three
years. I expect what we did this past summer to carry right over to
this season. I expect us to be right there the first week of
March."

The 5-foot-7 Valentine redshirted the 2007-08 season after
transferring from Texas Tech University where he played for Bobby
Knight. Valentine finished third in the league with a 15.2 scoring
average, ranking behind Anthony Johnson from Montana (17.5 average)
and Loren Leath from Sacramento State (15.6).

For the season, Valentine made 40 percent of his shots from the
field, 34 percent of his three-pointers (53-of-155) and 72 percent
of his free throws to go along with averages of 3.1 assists (fifth
in the league), 1.5 steals (fourth) and 2.8 rebounds per game. He
led Eastern in scoring in 15 games, with a pair of 30-point
performances, six outings with at least 20 and 24 of 29 games in
double figures.

In EWU's 12 victories last season, Valentine averaged 17.8
points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field. In Eastern's
losses, those figures fell to 13.4 points and 34.6 percent
shooting.

"We need Benny to be more judicious with his shot selections,"
said Earlywine. "He took too many bad shots last year. He's one of
the best students in our program and very, very bright
intellectually and academically, but he tends to be his own worst
enemy at times because of his thought processes. We have to
minimize those occurrences this year."

Moore closed the year with a double-double against Portland
State, scoring 18 points and pulling down a career-high 14 rebounds
with a career-high five blocked shots. But the 2008-09 season
wasn't always like that as his shooting percentages and fouls were
a great indicator of his trials and tribulations. Moore had three
double-doubles in Eastern's first 12 games of the season, but
didn't have any in his next 16 until the PSU game.

Moore was the only Eagle to have started all 30 games and
averaged 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game to rank 14th and
second, respectively, in the Big Sky Conference. In his 87-game
career (46 as a starter), Moore has averaged 8.2 points and 5.4
rebounds while making 50 percent of his shots from the field. His
61 blocked shots now rank third in school history and he has 473
total rebounds to rank 10th.

"Brandon needs to get back to shooting and scoring in the paint
the way he did the final month his sophomore season and the final
game of the season last year against Portland State," said
Earlywine. "We need him to shoot 52-55 percent from the floor. I'm
not saying we can't win or play well when he doesn't score in the
low post, but it makes it much more difficult."

Brunell and Dunn are role players in the post, and their
confidence as seniors could pay dividends for EWU. The 6-8,
260-pound Dunn averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in an average
of 23.3 minutes per game, and was the team's top field goal shooter
at 48.9 percent. He started 24 of 30 games.

"I couldn't have been more happy with what Matt and Mark brought
to the table last season," said Earlywine. "For the first 20 games,
Mark was better than I thought he would be, but I played him
probably too many minutes and he wore down. He doesn't have the
body type to play 30-32 minutes per game and be effective. I think
we can get the same production from him even with shorter minutes
this season."

The 6-8 Brunell played in all 30 games and started three, and
averaged 2.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He also had 12
blocked shots and six steals.

"Matt became what I thought was the best team defender in the
Big Sky Conference by the end of the year last season," Earlywine
continued. "He might not have been able to take a player out of a
game individually, but as a team defender he was spectacular and as
good as I've coached. His awareness, his alertness away from the
ball and his ability to cover mistakes by his teammates was
outstanding. I would like him to be more of a threat offensively
and a player the other team has to worry about a little more on the
offensive end of the floor."

The fifth senior returning is Gibson, who has lettered two
previous seasons under Earlywine. A quiet leader for the Eagles,
the 6-1 Gibson averaged 19.4 minutes, 3.4 points and 1.7 assists
per game as a junior, with just 32 turnovers in 30 games (14 as a
starter).

"It's been a two-year process to get Gary Gibson to talk and
communicate more, not only on the floor, but while he's on the
sideline and in practice. He has to be more vocal in terms of
helping the other players, especially on the defensive end of the
floor. Gary is a very smart player and recognizes things very
quickly. But he keeps it to himself, and that's not a good habit
for a guard."

Newcomers Include Pair of Redshirts . . .

Earlywine redshirted two freshmen in 2008-09, and both are
expected to contribute greatly to EWU this season. Kevin
Winford is a 5-11 point guard from Anchorage, Alaska, and
Abebe Demissie is a 6-5 forward who played for the
highly-successful Rainier Beach High School program in Seattle.

"Kevin gained a tremendous amount of strength in his body and
that was what was lacking like most incoming freshmen," said
Earlywine. "He only gained four pounds but he gained a lot of
strength. He struggled to practice for more than two or three
minutes in practice really hard because he got really fatigued. But
he's at the point now where he can play long minutes.

"Without any question he's the best shooter in the program and
we'll need Kevin to step up and hits shots on the perimeter for us.
He'll play both guard positions for us, but more than anything
else, we need him to shoot the ball. He's more than proven he can
do that in practice. He's a year older and a year stronger now, and
I expect him to have an outstanding redshirt freshman year."

"Abebe simply has to learn to play hard over extended periods,"
said Earlywine of the very athletic Demissie. "He's blessed with a
gift of his ability to pass the ball and handle the ball for a
player 6-5. He literally can play the point. He can guard both
guards and forwards and he's a good shooter when he's disciplined
with his shot. He gained 18 pounds during his redshirt season and
gained an unbelievable amount of strength and cut his body fat. He
simply has to mature mentally and become much more focused when he
comes onto the floor."

Another extremely athletic newcomer is Alden
Gibbs, a 6-3 junior guard who played at College of the
Siskiyous in California. Earlywine likens him to former Eagle
Chris Hester (2002-03), a two-time first team
All-Big Sky selection who averaged 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds in
his 61-game Eastern career, finishing with an amazing 63 dunks.

Other transfers include 6-8 sophomore forward Laron
Griffin, who played at Los Angeles Southwest College, and
Rice University transfer P.J. Bolte. Bolte is a 6-6 forward who
graduated in 2008 from Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma, Wash.
Walk-on 6-7 forward Morgan Hyslop comes to EWU
from Columbia Basin Community College, and was a 2007 graduate of
Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash.

Eastern's other three newcomers are freshmen guards who
graduated from high schools in the state of Washington.
Glen Dean graduated from Roosevelt HS in Seattle
in 2007 before attending prep school in North Carolina.
Jeffrey Forbes played for Washington State 4A
champion Federal Way, and walk-on sharpshooter Sean
Fischer played for Gonzaga Prep in Spokane.

Bolte will redshirt the 2009-10 season as a transfer, and Hyslop
and Fischer are expected to redshirt as well.

Schedule includes games with Washington State and Gonzaga . .
.

Eastern's 2009-10 schedule is highlighted by non-conference
games against Washington State and Gonzaga, as well as the earliest
Big Sky Conference start in school history.

Eastern opens its league schedule on the early date of Dec. 5,
giving the Eagles two exhibition games and seven non-conference
games to prepare for league play. Among those seven games, Eastern
hosts Portland on Nov. 14 and Boise State on Nov. 24, and plays
road games at Washington State on Nov. 16 and Idaho on Nov. 28.

"I like our non-conference schedule and the fact we're not stuck
on the road very long," Earlywine said. "But November is very tough
and we have to be ready right from the start."

Eastern plays at Portland State on Dec. 5 before resuming league
play on Jan. 1 at home against Sacramento State. The other
non-conference games for the Eagles include road games at Nevada
(Dec.17), Brigham Young (Dec. 19) and Gonzaga (Dec. 28), as well as
an appearance in the four-team Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans
Arena on Dec. 22-23.

In addition, Eastern plays both at home (Dec. 12) and on the
road (Feb. 1) against Seattle University, a newcomer in NCAA
Division I in the 2008-09 season. Seattle defeated the Eagles in
overtime last season, but the Eagles were able to edge both
Portland (63-58) and Idaho (69-59) before both of those teams
finished strong in the West Coast Conference and Western Athletic
Conference, respectively.

"We have our hands full with our non-conference schedule, but
that's always the case," Earlywine said. "Now that Portland and
Idaho have elevated their programs in the last year, it makes our
non-conference schedule that much tougher."

"I hope we get tremendous fan support for our home opener
against Portland because that is going to be a heckuva game," he
added. "We beat them in a close game at their place last year and I
know they'll remember that. So we jump right into the fire with
Portland."

"Everything we do from now until December 5th will be pointing
toward conference play," Earlywine continued. "We want to be peaked
and ready for every conference game we play."

The Dec. 5 start to league play represents the earliest Big Sky
opener in school history. Last year, the Eagles opened league play
on Dec. 6 with a 61-55 home win over Montana State, and the
previous season opened on Dec. 22 with a 58-57 home victory over
Portland State.

"I've made my feelings pretty well known about playing the first
conference game in early December," explained Earlywine. "But we've
actually been ready to play that game the last two seasons. I
shouldn't be too critical because we've won our opener each of the
past two years."

Eastern is hoping its five senior letter winners and talented
newcomers will help the Eagles earn their first Big Sky Conference
Tournament berth in four seasons when that event takes place on
March 6, 9 and 10. However, Earlywine expects several other league
teams to feature even more returning starters and experience.

"The league is going to be very, very good," he said. "Top to
bottom, it may be as good as it's been in the last 10 years. I told
our team after our last game last season that our challenge was to
go catch the other teams in the league. Nobody is backing up, so we
have to go catch them. Our focus has been on doing what we have to
do to improve and not count on other teams to stub their toe."

Earlywine has been in the Big Sky Conference for nearly 10 years
now, dating back to 1999 when he became an assistant at Weber
State. He knows the January to March grind in the league is
difficult, but it's made even more difficult this season with the
cost-saving measure of playing most weekend doubleheaders on
Friday/Saturday instead of Thursday/Saturday.

"The travel difficulties haven't changed -- we still have nine
institutions spread over eight states," he said. "You go from sea
level to altitude, and one time zone to another. It's tough."